


Happy Birthday, Levi!

by Nanitsumi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Bartender!Levi, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reunion, sad levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanitsumi/pseuds/Nanitsumi
Summary: A surprise birthday gift for Levi when he didn't dare to keep hoping.
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 8
Kudos: 88





	Happy Birthday, Levi!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone and merry Christmas!  
> So I had this little idea in mind and wanted to post something for Levi's birthday. Happy birthday Heichou!  
> Christmas Eve is usually not my favourite day of the year and I was feeling pretty down today so I'm posting this little something without editing/betaing. I might revise it later so please bear with me.  
> Hope you enjoy this little story!

A look at the clock that was hanging on the yellowish wall behind the bar told him that he had exactly 47 Minutes left until he would turn 31 years old. Levi let out a quiet sigh and prepared another round of shots for the group of tweens that has been occupying the seats at the window for the last couple of hours. He didn’t mind them, it was a rather quiet evening and if he worked on Christmas Eve he at least wanted to earn some money and the drunken mid-twenties tipped well that is.

While the girls and boys enjoyed a not so pensive evening, Levi’s thoughts were spiraling while he wiped the counter of the bar for the umpteenth time this shift. How did he end up working at a bar of all places? And Kenny’s bar at that. They might have had their differences last time they met as uncle and nephew, when Levi didn’t even know that the criminal who raised him was in fact his uncle, but this time, in this life, they somehow got along quite well. 

Maybe because his mother was still alive, maybe Kenny wanted to make up for his mistakes, Levi didn’t know. All he knew was that he was immensely grateful that the old fart didn’t bolt when seventeen year old Levi confronted him after remembering for the first time. 

He had woken up screaming in the middle of the night, sweating and breathing hard, trying to fight off the demons that had visited him in his dreams and he just _knew_. With shaking legs he had left his room and made his way to the living room, where Kenny had been waiting for him. Sitting in the recliner, smoking a cigarette, glass of whiskey in his hands he took one look at his nephew, sighed and poured him a drink.

They had talked all night, neither of them showing any sign of resentment for the other man and Levi had caught himself thinking that he wished they would have had these moments in their past life.

A couple years later he was finishing university together with Farlan and Isabel who he had met in his first semester. Farlan remembered, Isabel didn’t. Levi and Farlan silently decided to not tell Isabel about their shared memories and the other life. They were contend with being around each other, having found each other after all those years and if the redhead didn’t remember the threat that titans had posed the better. It wasn’t until she turned 24 that Isabel regained her memory. She had been a crying mess, asking why they never told her and Levi thought she would never let go of them again when she pulled her friends in a bone breaking hug.

He was happy now, well, happier at least. But Levi knew something was missing or rather someone. Since he remembered their previous lives he had just one goal: to find Erwin Smith. But no matter how hard he looked, no matter the places he would visit, he never caught a trace of the former Commander. 

Farlan and Levi talked a lot about their previous lives and the blond soon caught onto what had occurred after his and Isabel’s deaths. He wasn’t even shocked when Levi told him about him and Erwin, how they had grown fond of each other and had spent more and more time together. Things had gotten physical but the older they got the less time they had as things had gotten hectic and unpredictable. Levi could see sympathy and sadness in Farlan’s eyes when he told him how he chose to let Erwin rest. They had never confessed their feeling for each other.

An especially loud laugh jolted Levi out of his thoughts and he looked up. Farlan has brought another round to the table and gave him a short nod when he returned the empty glasses to Levi to clean up. Wordless he took them and got on with his task. 

He felt like shit. Every year he felt like this and it didn’t matter that Isabel and Farlan kept him company and tried to distract his thoughts. Even going so far as to not spend the holidays with their families which in turn made Levi feel incredibly guilty. But he couldn’t help it. In this life he might have a family and his two best friends were alive and laughing with him over his stupid shitty jokes, but the older he got the more he feared he will lose them like he did last time.

When the door to the bar opened Levi looked up in confusion. It was almost midnight and they would be closing soon so why would anyone enter the almost empty bar at this hour. There was just one single person standing in the open door, cold sweeping in from the outside but the newcomer didn’t seem bothered. 

At first Levi didn’t recognize him, his tall and muscular body hidden under a long coat, thick scarf and a rather hideous toque. But then their eyes met and when icy blue met steel grey Levi let go of everything he was holding and almost jumped across the bar. Erwin … Erwin was here, in their shitty bar in downtown Vancouver and looking at him like he saw the ravenette for the very first time.

“Erwin.”

Levi grabbed his coat and stared into Erwin’s face. It still looked the same, a bit younger than the last time he saw him but with the same bushy eyebrows and the same kind smile on his lips. And he froze. What if Erwin didn’t remember? What if he was a stranger to him in this life? What if –

“Levi!”

 _Fuck_. Levi felt his eyes tearing up and he bit his lips, willed his hands to stop shaking. He didn’t know what to say and went to lower his head but two warm hands on his cheeks were stopping him. Erwin was smiling at him and when their lips met it was like their very first time, tentative and careful.

Levi melted against Erwin. Forgotten were his worries, the place they were at because Erwin was back. They found each other again.

It wasn’t a particular long or deep kiss but it was everything Levi needed and when they broke it Erwin wrapped his arms around him and neither of them felt like ever letting go again.

While he held an unusually quiet and shaking Levi in his strong arms Erwin’s eyes searched for Farlan and when he found him his smile widened. “Thank you,” he whispered and hid his teary eyes in the black shock of hair in front of him.

Farlan grinned broadly in relieve. After five long years of searching for this man, he had finally found him at the dental office of all places. With a last glance at the two hugging figures he composed himself to cash up and closing the bar. Finally, his friend could be happy again. “Happy birthday, Levi!”

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, thank you for reading!  
> If you find any major mistakes please let me know. English is not my first language and I'm grateful for any feedback so I can improve both my language and writing skills.  
> I wish everyone a Merry Christmas - stay safe and healthy! ❤️


End file.
